Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
1710. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the way that his Department is addressing inequalities in the detection and treatment of cardiovascular disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20717/22]
View answerCardiovascular disease has been declining as a cause of death in Ireland, in line with trends throughout the Western World. This trend was reported in 1999 in Building Healthier Hearts, recording that death rates from CHD declined across all ages from the late 1970s through to the 1990s. This trend was further recorded in Changing Cardiovascular Health, noting that over 30-year period from 1980, age-standardised death rates from diseases of the circulatory system in Ireland had decreased by 67% in those both under and over 65 years of age. This declining trend in Ireland has continued in recent years.
In 2018, the National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services was established by the Minister for Health to review the delivery of cardiac services nationally. The Review seeks to achieve optimal patient outcomes at population level with particular emphasis on the safety, quality and sustainability of the services that patients receive. The National Review covers scheduled and unscheduled hospital-based services for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease in adults. Moreover, the Review considers the delivery of cardiac services nationally with a focus on the current detection and treatments of cardiovascular disease.
The COVID-19 Pandemic impacted on the progress of the review during 2020 and into 2021 as the Chair of the National Review has played a key role in the national COVID-19 response as a member of the NPHET and Chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group. However, the Cardiac Services Review is now making progress again, and the Steering Group reconvened in September 2021 with a view to finalisation of the Report. The Steering Group most recently met on 24/01/2022 and the next meeting is planned for May, 2022. The Steering Group is currently working on the development of the proposed recommendations of the draft Report. The implementation process for the National Cardiac Services Review is also being developed as part of the process to finalise the Report.
